


Liquid Courage

by Scarlett_Lucian



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: After Hogwarts, Boyfriends, Draco gets a tad tipsy, Established Relationship, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Ministry event, PDA, Romantic Fluff, The press is obsessed with Harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:46:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24601810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scarlett_Lucian/pseuds/Scarlett_Lucian
Summary: The war is over and the wizarding world is consumed by charity benefits and parties - and Harry Potter makes a wonderful guest of honour, escorted by his patient boyfriend, Draco Malfoy. The wizarding press is obsessed with the two of them, but when Draco drinks a bit too much champagne, they may have front row seats to an event that Harry will never forget.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 8
Kudos: 166





	Liquid Courage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [larosesombre](https://archiveofourown.org/users/larosesombre/gifts).



> So this fluffy little thing was inspired by the prompt: The less affectionate character in a ship gets really affectionate when drunk/tired and the other character is just really confused and concerned. Enjoy the mayhem that ensued!  
> This fic is gifted/dedicated to the wonderful larosesombre in celebration of her writing her first Drarry fic! Welcome to the ship, darling.

During the conflict with Voldemort and his Death Eaters, Ministry parties had been a rare occurrence. But now that the war was over, it seemed as though Harry got an invention to events every other night. Charities, and award ceremonies, with attendance levels skyrocketing at the mere mention of the Boy Who Lived Twice making an appearance. So naturally, Harry couldn’t bring himself to refuse, not when such worthy causes were at stake, even when he’d rather spend the evening in with his boyfriend, introducing him to Muggle films and trying to best him in their long-running wizard chess tournament.   
Draco was a surprisingly good sport about the whole thing. Sure, he couldn’t help a bit of grumbling when they were going out for the fourth night in a row, but for the most part, he patiently stood by Harry’s side, using the infamous Malfoy charm to try to brighten otherwise dreadfully dull small talk with various Ministry officials and prestigious wizarding families, of which Harry knew nothing of, causing him to cling desperately to Draco’s expertise. And he loved him all the more for it.   
At least the press had settled down somewhat by this point. When they had first been spotted holding hands at a Puddlemere United match, all the papers had a field day with headings about the Chosen One allowing a Malfoy to Slytherin-to his bed. But once everyone had come to terms with the fact that Draco had no intention of going anywhere except wherever Harry went, the wizarding world had begrudgingly gotten used to seeing the two young men arm and arm on the cover of the Daily Prophet.   
Tonight was no different. They had Flooed into the Ministry and immediately had been dragged over to do a photo-op with Minister Shacklebolt, pasting on their practiced smiles for the press. Then they had spent the next several hours making the rounds, champagne flutes in hand while they made sure to thank everyone for coming out to donate to such a worthy cause, although at this point, Harry honestly had no idea which charity was sponsoring which night. It was all one blur of sleek dress robes and polite smiles.   
Exhausted, Harry stepped out of the main room, sagging against the wall in the quiet hallway outside. His black robes pooled on the floor as he sank down to rest for a moment, leaning his head against the wall in a moment of blissful peace. His head throbbed from a combination of the relentless noise and the multiple glasses of champagne that he had sipped away at throughout the evening. Taking off his glasses, he massaged his forehead, willing the pounding to stop. He fished his pocket watch out of his robes. It was nearly midnight. Well, that was some blessing at least. For appearances’ sake, he and Draco would have to mingle for half an hour more, but after that, they could Apparate back to their flat and sleep into tomorrow afternoon.   
Harry wearily pushed himself back up to standing. Bracing himself, he dove back into the room, where the benefit was still going full swing. He kept a fixed smile on his face as he wove through the crowd, searching for Draco’s light hair.   
His boyfriend was nodding along with one of the remaining Prewitt brothers, a sparkling crystal glass in his hand. The pale liquor contrasted brightly against Draco’s gray robes, catching flecks of light from the central chandelier. Harry slipped his arm through Draco’s, wanting to share the good news about how close they were to being able to leave.   
“Ah, Mr. Potter, so good to see you again,” Mr. Prewitt said jovially, shaking Harry’s hand.  
“Same to you, Mr. Prewitt,” he said with as much sincerity as he could, while simultaneously trying to discreetly wipe off the sheen of sweat that had been transferred from the other man’s palm.   
“So glad we got to talk,” Draco said smoothly, nodding politely as he steered Harry away quick enough that he got out of having to shake the man’s hand himself. “Oh, thank Merlin, love, good save back there.”   
Harry was opening his mouth, about to mention their impending escape, when Draco suddenly pressed a casual kiss to his temple. Harry pulled back, staring at Draco with shock, laughing. “What in Godric’s name was that?”   
Draco raised an impeccable eyebrow. “What? Oh, this?” And he kissed Harry’s other temple, grinning slightly as he pulled back.   
Harry gaped, thoroughly perplexed by his boyfriend’s behavior. Draco had put up a serious fight against even holding hands at public events and now he was throwing kisses around like it was nothing? What had happened to his ridiculously private boyfriend who eyed all forms of PDA with utter distaste and his patented Malfoy sneer?  
“Do you have a problem with my kissing, Potter?” Draco asked, sliding his hand up from its place in the crook of Harry’s arm. “Because that’s certainly not what I heard last night.”   
Harry shushed him, going slightly red as he looked around at the guests near them, hoping they hadn’t caught that last bit. Draco was now idly tracing lines along the back of Harry’s neck and Harry dragged him off to the side of the room before he could say anything else incriminating.   
“What is going on with you?” He hissed, eyeing the swarm of ministry guests nervously. It would just be his luck that Draco had decided he needed an audience for some sort of mental breakdown. He did have an undeniable flair for dramatics. Oh, Merlin, The Daily Prophet would never let either of them live it down.  
“Nothing,” Draco said innocently, immediately contradicting himself when he began to trail soft kisses along Harry’s jawline, finally pressing his lips directly against Harry’s. Harry was too stunned to react at first, but slowly let himself get swept away by the kiss, clutching the lapels of Draco’s robes.   
They fell against the wall, but the sudden sound of shattering glass brought Harry back to the present.   
“Whoops!” Draco said carelessly, examining the champagne flute he had been holding moments before, now forming a puddle of golden liquor spattered with shards of glass. “My bad.” He neatly stepped over the mess, slipping his arms around Harry’s waist. “Sorry, where were we?”   
Harry was leaning back towards him when realization dawned. “You’re drunk.”  
“No, I’m not,” Draco said crossly. “Now give me a kiss.” He moved once again towards Harry, nearly tripping over the hem of his robe. “Damn. Where did that come from?”  
Harry couldn’t stop himself from laughing. Draco stared at him, frowning as Harry gripped onto the wall for support, fearing he would fall over he was shaking so hard with laughter.   
“I don’t see what’s so funny,” Draco complained, fumbling with one of Harry’s cufflinks. “Sweet Salazar, how do these work again?”   
This set Harry off on another spool of laughter, but he calmed himself down when he saw the truly bewildered look on his boyfriend’s face. “It’s alright, darling. But I think it’s time we went home, before you propose marriage or something.”  
Draco’s mouth formed an ‘o’of surprise. “How did you know? Who told you? Weasley? Granger? I mean, I would expect it of Weasley, I always knew it was a risk telling him, but I thought Hermione would at least-”  
“Wait, what?” Harry stared at Draco. Now it was his turn to be confused. “You’re joking, right?”   
Draco rolled his eyes, giving up on Harry’s cufflink, and pulled a small box out of his pocket. He opened it, revealing a simple iron band. “I was planning to do it when we got back home, and then I got so nervous thinking about it all evening, that I started stocking up on some liquid courage. I’m not a bloody Gryffindor, you know. These things don’t just come naturally to me.”  
Harry started sputtering out sounds, but for some reason they wouldn’t form words. Draco looked at him, concerned. “Is this because I didn’t go down on one knee? Merlin, Potter, give a bloke a minute.” And with that, Draco knelt down, still holding the box out to Harry, who had given up any idea of speaking at this point and was simply watching Draco, eyes wide.   
“Harry James Potter, I know that I’m slightly sloshed right now,” a corner of Draco’s mouth went up in a grin. “But sloshed or not, I will always know one thing: I am completely in love with you and I want to spend the rest of my life at your side. Whether it’s at these stupid events or on our couch watching those weird Muggle moving pictures that you love so much or, or anywhere! I just know that I want to be there. With you. Always. So,” Draco summed up a final breath, gray eyes fixed solemnly on Harry’s face. “Would you do the greatest honour in the world and marry me?”   
Harry simply stood there, looking at Draco, who was staring up at him so earnestly. Still tilting over to one side slightly, but no amount of champagne in the world, wizard or Muggle, could wash away the unabashed love in his beautiful eyes.   
“Yes,” Harry breathed, so quietly he wondered if Draco had even heard him. But his answering grin told him he had. And the following kiss only cemented it more firmly.   
Suddenly, Harry’s focus was reluctantly dragged away from Draco’s impossibly soft lips when he heard cheers. Still clinging onto his boyfri- his fiance, Harry turned to see that every single guest at the benefit was watching them, clapping in celebration. A swarm of journalists and photographers were crowded around the edges of the circle, taking picture after picture and shouting out questions, presumably directed at them.   
Harry groaned, tucking his head against Draco’s shoulder. “Are you sure you want to be tied down to someone who has a permanent entourage wherever they go?”  
“If that person is you, always Harry.”


End file.
